Glantz: Should it never be' again?

FILE - This Nov. 13, 2012 file photo shows Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman, Sen. .John Kerry, D-Mass. pursued by reporters as he arrives for a closed-door meetin on Capitol Hill in Washington. Kerry is angling for the nationís top diplomatic job by being diplomatic. He's asking supporters not to overtly lobby on his behalf, a strategy reflecting both his disdain for Washingtonís personnel politics and a recognition that if Obama taps Rice instead, Kerry will have to shepherd her difficult nomination through the Senate committee he runs. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Let’s try to work through this thing together, as we enter December, with a “What Is And What Should Never Be” installment:

What Is: Naysayer Numero Uno, a reader addicted to commenting on my columns on our website (www.timesherald.com) decried this particular format (not that he seems content with anything I do, short of joining the John Birch Society).

Advertisement

And What Should Never Be: While opinions are like certain body parts (everybody has one), I don’t want to become more of an irritant than I strategically try to be.

One of the most dangerous things that can happen — whether it be in a board room, a union hall, the United Nations or a playground — is yielding to the will of a vocal minority.

I’d rather hear from the masses, that perceived silent majority, before pulling the plug on the “What Is And What Should Never Be” segments, which have gone from once a month to no more than 4-5 times a year.

Let me know. I won’t cry (not too much, anyway).

What Is: Speaking of the United Nations, I hear they voted to make Palestine a state.

And What Should Never Be: Encore performances, dressed up as new.

I thought they did that like 10-15 years ago.

Eh, whatever.

And the U.N.?

Talk about an entity — one prone to giving in to vocal minorities — that needs the plug pulled.

What Is: Speaking of the U.N., the U.S. Ambassador to that mockery of a sham, Susan Rice, remains tied to the GOP whipping post over their lone issue, Benghazi.

And What Should Never Be: President Obama not keeping his head, and failing on working this out to a logical conclusion.

Obama, usually calm and cool, seems too defiant in his support of Rice — and her possible nomination to replace Hillary Clinton as secretary of state — for his own good.

It may not be the most gallant thing to do, but I say throw her under the bus and be done with it already, Barack.

All is fair in love, war and — above all else — politics.

John Kerry, the guy who was swift-boated out of the presidency in 2004, should know this better than anyone.

And Kerry, though reportedly not the type to cut back room deals, wants the gig.

The only thing that makes me uneasy is that the anti-Rice brigade from the right, led by the likes of John McCain, seems a little too in love with the idea of Kerry loosening up in Obama’s bullpen.

Their nefarious motive — and you know there is one — is clearly to get a Republican into the Massachusetts senate seat Kerry would vacate.

The reality, though, is that they have no better than a 47 percent chance of making that happen in a left-leaning state.

That party is so lost right now that it couldn’t find itself with a GPS.

That’s what happens when you give in to a vocal minority, The Tea Party.

What Is: While this might be a subject better addressed for my alter ego on the Sports page, the Eagles are so hideous at this point that I might find myself rooting for the dreaded Dallas Cowboys to beat them like a drum tonight. While I still don’t miss a snap (even burning vacation days to watch the Monday night massacres), this Season In Hell (sorry for the ghastly expression, all ye faithful, but I recently caught “Eddie and The Cruisers” on cable, so it’s back in my cranium) can’t end soon enough.

And What Should Never Be: Putting money in the organization’s pocket by purchasing Eagles merchandise for the holidays.

I remember going to the first game of the season in 2011 and seeing an inordinate amount of No. 24 jerseys.

Nnamdi Asomugha had not played a down in midnight green and was an icon.

I got a sick feeling in my gut, and it was not just me being me.

Since then, we have seen him earn a degree in locker-room lawyering while getting torched in the secondary every time we dare to blink.

He should issue refunds to all those who bought the jerseys, but we know that’s not happening.

Instead, in a symbolic gesture of his third-degree burns at the hands of third-string receivers, No. 24 jerseys should be tossed into a bonfire at the last home game of the season.

What Is: You won’t see me at the last home game (but let me know how that bonfire goes). Donated those tickets to a good cause a while ago; before the season hit the abyss. That doesn’t make me a saint. A lot of people are doing a lot more this time of year. Toys for Tots. Food drives. Clothing drives. You name it, and it’s being done.

And What Should Never Be: Doing nothing but going around with a scowl, proclaiming that Christ is not in Christmas.

I don’t want to belabor the point here, but ... if you’re not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.

And the problem is that we have to worry more about keeping it up the other 11 months.

What Is: The Rolling Stones are celebrating their 50th year.

And What Should Never Be: Not getting any satisfaction from it.

I know it’s only Rock and Roll, but I like it ...

The Stones have provided the soundtrack to many people’s lives through many generations, just within families, and are reason to see the glass as half-full in an half-empty world.

Gordon Glantz is the managing editor of The Times Herald. Contact him at gglantz@timesherald.com or at 610-272-2500, ext. 212. Follow him on Twitter @Managing2Edit.